Modelling growth and nitrogen balance of barley under ambient and future conditions

Selostus: Ohran kasvun ja typpidynamiikan mallintaminen nykyisissä ja tulevaisuuden olosuhteissa

Effect of anionic salts in concentrate mixture and magnesium intake on some blood and urine minerals and acid-base balance of dry pregnant cows on grass silage based feeding

Selostus: Kationi-anionitasapaino ja magnesiumin saanti ummessaolevien lypsylehmien säilörehuruokinnassa

Carbon balance of Fibre-Based Package

Customers are more and more interested in the environmental impacts of the products they purchase. Different labels give the required environmental information to consumers and the labels might affect to the consuming decisions. The European Union has set a plan for sustainable consuming, which encourages industry and commerce to calculate carbon footprints for the products. A term “carbon footprint” means carbon dioxide emissions across the product lifecycle. In this thesis, carbon footprints are calculated for two different fibre-based packages. In the end, greenhouse gas emissions from fibre-package production are compared to greenhouse gas emissions from PET bottle production. The data for mill processes is exact and monitored in the mill. In addition, data was gathered from raw material and material suppliers, customers, official records, KCL-eco databases and literature. The data for PET bottle is sourced from literature. End-of-life operations affect greatly on the carbon footprint of a fibre-based package. The results show that the carbon footprint is smallest when used packages are recycled. Recycling saves also natural resources. If used packages are not recyclable for some reason, it is recommended to use them in energy production. Through waste incineration fossil fuels could be substituted and greenhouse gas emissions avoided.

Muistipotilaan tarkoituksenmukaisen hoitopaikan määrittäminen Balance of Care -menetelmällä

Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli kuvata Balance of Care (BoC) -menetelmän käyttöä ikääntyneen muistipotilaan tarkoituksenmukaisen hoitopaikan määrittelyssä. Tutkimuksen avulla pyrittiin selvittämään miten yhtenäinen on asiantuntijoiden muodostama käsitys ikääntyneen muistipotilaan tarkoituksenmukaisesta hoitopaikasta, sekä mitkä tekijät vaikuttavat asiantuntijoiden päätöksentekoon muodostettaessa tarkoituksenmukaisia hoitopaikkoja. Tutkimus on osa kansainvälistä EU:n rahoittamaa RightTimePlaceCare -projektia (RTPC), jonka tavoitteena on kehittää muistisairaiden ikääntyneiden hoitokäytänteitä tilanteisiin, joissa pohditaan tarkoituksenmukaisinta hoitopaikkaa. Tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin asiantuntijoiden (N = 27) päätöksentekoa käytettäessä BoC -menetelmää. Tutkimus toteutettiin viidessä kunnassa, jossa kussakin kokoontui yksi asiantuntijaryhmä pohtimaan BoC -menetelmän avulla tarkoituksenmukaista hoitopaikkaa 14 esimerkkitapaukselle. Esimerkkitapaukset kuvasivat tyypillisiä ikääntyneitä muistipotilaita. Kukin asiantuntijaryhmä tutustui seitsemään esimerkkitapaukseen. Jokaista esimerkkitapausta arvioi kaksi tai kolme asiantuntijaryhmää. Asiantuntijat valitsivat ja kirjasivat ensin itsenäisesti hoitopaikan esimerkkitapaukselle, tämän jälkeen asiantuntijat keskustelivat ryhmässä ja pyrkivät muodostamaan konsensuksen tarkoituksenmukaisesta hoitopaikasta sekä mahdollisesti tarvittavista palveluista. Myös nämä kirjattiin. Aineisto analysoitiin kvantifioimalla ja induktiivisesti teemoittelemalla. Asiantuntijoiden itsenäisesti muodostamissa hoitopaikkapäätöksissä oli paljon eroja. Ainoastaan yhden esimerkkitapauksen (7 %) kohdalla asiantuntijoiden päätös oli yksimielinen. Osalle asiantuntijoista tuotti vaikeuksia valita vaihtoehdoista vain yksi hoitopaikka ikääntyneelle muistipotilaalle. Asiantuntijaryhmien päätökset olivat yhtenäisempiä, kuin yksittäisten asiantuntijoiden. Ryhmät päätyivät täysin yhteneviin hoitopaikkasuosituksiin seitsemän esimerkkitapauksen (50 %) kohdalla. Tulosten mukaan ikääntyneen muistipotilaan hoitopaikkaa koskevat päätökset olisi järkevää toteuttaa moniammatillisissa asiantuntijaryhmissä, näin saavutetaan yhdenmukaisempia hoitopäätöksiä. Sekä asiantuntijoiden että asiantuntijaryhmien päätöksistä suurin osa painottui kotihoitoon, joten suurinta osaa tässä tutkimuksessa mukana olleista ikääntyneistä muistipotilasta voidaan hoitaa palveluiden turvin kotona. Asiantuntijoiden päätöksentekoon vaikuttavat tekijät muodostuivat muistipotilaan hoidon tukipalveluista, fyysisestä hoitoympäristöstä, muistipotilaan läheisistä ja ikääntyneestä muistipotilaasta. Tutkimuksen avulla saatua tietoa voidaan hyödyntää päätöksenteon tukena määritettäessä tarkoituksenmukaista hoitopaikkaa ikääntyneelle muistipotilaalle sekä suunniteltaessa menetelmää muistipotilaan hoidon koordinointiin.

Acid-base Balance and Oxidative Metabolism in Calcified Tissues

The calcified tissues, comprising bone and cartilage, are metabolically active tissues that bind and release calcium, bicarbonate and other substances according to systemic needs. Understanding the regulation of cellular metabolism in bone and cartilage is an important issue, since a link between the metabolism and diseases of these tissues is clear. An essential element in the function of bone-resorbing osteoclasts, namely regulation of bicarbonate transport, has not yet been thoroughly studied. Another example of an important but at the same time fairly unexplored subject of interest in this field is cartilage degeneration, an important determinant for development of osteoarthritis. The link between this and oxidative metabolism has rarely been studied. In this study, we have investigated the significance of bicarbonate transport in osteoclasts. We found that osteoclasts possess several potential proteins for bicarbonate transport, including carbonic anhydrase IV and XIV, and an electroneutral bicarbonate co-transporter NBCn1. We have also shown that inhibiting the function of these proteins has a significant impact on bone resorption and osteoclast morphology. Furthermore, we have explored oxidative metabolism in chondrocytes and found that carbonic anhydrase III (CA III), a protein linked to the prevention of protein oxidation in muscle cells, is also present in mouse chondrocytes, where its expression correlates with the presence of reactive oxygen species. Thus, our study provides novel information on the regulation of cellular metabolism in calcified tissues.

Conceptions of mathematics teacher education : thoughts among teacher educators in Tanzania

This study addresses the question of teacher educators’ conceptions of mathematics teacher education (MTE) in teacher colleges in Tanzania, and their thoughts on how to further develop it. The tension between exponents of content as opposed to pedagogy has continued to cause challenging conceptual differences, which also influences what teacher educators conceive as desirable in the development of this domain. This tension is connected to the dissatisfaction of parents and teachers with the failure of school mathematics. From this point of view, the overall aim was to identify and describe teacher educators’ various conceptions of MTE. Inspired by the debate among teacher educators about what the balance should be between subject matter and pedagogical knowledge, it was important to look at the theoretical faces of MTE. The theoretical background involved the review of what is visible in MTE, what is yet to be known and the challenges within the practice. This task revealed meanings, perspectives in MTE, professional development and assessment. To do this, two questions were asked, to which no clear solutions satisfactorily existed. The questions to guide the investigation were, firstly, what are teacher educators’ conceptions of MTE, and secondly, what are teacher educators’ thoughts on the development of MTE? The two questions led to the choice of phenomenography as the methodological approach. Against the guiding questions, 27 mathematics teacher educators were interviewed in relation to the first question, while 32 responded to an open-ended questionnaire regarding question two. The interview statements as well as the questionnaire responses were coded and analysed (classified). The process of classification generated patterns of qualitatively different ways of seeing MTE. The results indicate that MTE is conceived as a process of learning through investigation, fostering inspiration, an approach to learning with an emphasis on problem solving, and a focus on pedagogical knowledge and skills in the process of teaching and learning. In addition, the teaching and learning of mathematics is seen as subject didactics with a focus on subject matter and as an organized integration of subject matter, pedagogical knowledge and some school practice; and also as academic content knowledge in which assessment is inherent. The respondents also saw the need to build learner-educator relationships. Finally, they emphasized taking advantage of teacher educators’ neighbourhood learning groups, networking and collaboration as sustainable knowledge and skills sharing strategies in professional development. Regarding desirable development, teacher educators’ thoughts emphasised enhancing pedagogical knowledge and subject matter, and to be determined by them as opposed to conventional top-down seminars and workshops. This study has revealed various conceptions and thoughts about MTE based on teacher educators´ diverse history of professional development in mathematics. It has been reasonably substantiated that some teacher educators teach school mathematics in the name of MTE, hardly distinguishing between the role and purpose of the two in developing a mathematics teacher. What teacher educators conceive as MTE and what they do regarding the education of teachers of mathematics revealed variations in terms of seeing the phenomenon of interest. Within limits, desirable thoughts shed light on solutions to phobias, and in the same way low self-esteem and stigmatization call for the building of teacher educator-student teacher relationships.